What If
by Jael K
Summary: If Leonard had been rescued, last minute, from the Oculus explosion...what might have happened afterward? CaptainCanary.


Author's Note: Well, I couldn't sleep last night and was playing "what if?" in my head. I decided to try to write a scene I could see happening if Leonard was rescued, last minute, from the Oculus. Enjoy!

* * *

Sara sat on her bed, in her room in the Waverider, and stared at her hands.

The adrenaline from all the events at the Vanishing Point hadn't settled yet, and frankly she'd almost rather be in the training room, beating something up. But the need to be alone and deal with her tangled thoughts was stronger, at the moment, and so she'd retreated to her room as they flew after Savage and Kendra. Trying not to think, and thinking anyway.

Her hands were shaking. She tightened them into fists.

Goddamn it, Leonard.

It was a few minutes at least, before there was a quiet chime at the door. Sara lifted her eyes from her hands toward the ceiling, waiting.

Gideon responded. "Do you want me to open the door, Miss Lance?"

She didn't even say who it was. Well, they both knew. Sara paused another beat, then sighed. "Yes, please, Gideon."

Leonard paused in the doorway a moment, as if he hadn't really expected her to let him in, then strolled into the room casually, the way he had countless times before. Sara watched him, trying to keep her expression noncommittal and cool. When he stopped, it was in the middle of the room, not close, but his eyes were on hers, instead of darting all over like the last time he'd come to her room.

"Are you all right?" he asked her quietly, diffidently.

Sara's fists tightened again. "I'm fine."

Leonard kept watching her. "Hmm," he said, sidling just a little closer. "Doesn't seem like it." He tilted his head. "What's eating you, Sara?"

Goddamn thief still said her name in the same goddamn way. She scowled at him, unable to keep some form of ire from emerging. "Who says something is?" she retorted.

Leonard tilted his head the other way and moved a little closer. "The way you left the bridge like a bat outta hell, for one thing," he said. "Mick was still out. I hadn't even managed to get up from where Raymond had dumped my ass on the floor. Vanishing Point was still going 'boom.'" He spread his hands out in front of him. "And…poof. No Sara."

"Didn't see any need to watch." Sara studied her hands again.

"Guess I thought you'd be pleased." And there was the drawl. "No more Time Bastards to mess with us. And we even all got out OK."

Sara's fists tightened.

" _Get him outta here_."

" _No_."

" _Just do it_."

For a moment, she was back in _that_ moment. Leonard, elbow-deep in the Oculus. Mick unconscious next to them. An impossible choice.

No choice at all.

And she can't breathe.

And then she can.

"What the _hell_ did you think you were doing back there, you…you jerk?" she hissed at him before she could think better of it, lifting her head and staring right at him for the first time.

Leonard blinked. "Ex _cuse_ me?"

He actually sounded surprised, like he wasn't aware of her ire. Or at least where it was directed.

But the words are emerging now, and Sara didn't think she could stop them. "At the Vanishing Point. In the Oculus chamber. You…" Her nails were digging into her palms. "You were going to _die_."

The surprise on Leonard's face modulated into something more neutral. "Oh."

" _Oh_? That's all you have to say about it?" Sara stared at him. "I thought…I was going to have…" She took a deep breath, reliving that heart-stopping moment when she'd realized there wasn't a goddamned thing she could do to save him.

Right before Ray had come rocketing back into the chamber and jammed something into the mechanism. But she hadn't known that was going to happen at the time.

"…you were going to die," she repeated quietly, looking down at her hands again. "And I was going to lose another person I cared about. And I couldn't do a damned thing about it."

OK, maybe she hadn't meant that to get out.

The silence hung in the room for a long moment. Then Leonard sighed. Not that "I'm surrounded by idiots" sigh she'd heard before, or the "oh, Raymond" sigh. A quiet exhalation of air, a released breath, a sound of faint pain and understanding.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, coming to stand next to her, leaning against the bed, not quite meeting her eyes when she glanced at him. "I…I just knew that I owed Mick. After all the…the Chronos stuff. I couldn't leave him somewhere like that again." He lifted a shoulder in a semi-shrug. "I didn't really think it through."

Coming from Leonard Snart, it was a huge admission. Sara almost smiled.

"Well," she told him. "I guess you owe Ray. Good luck with that."

That got a snort and faint smirk. Leonard shook his head. Then he looked up at her, his slouch against her bed putting him at a vantage point slightly below her. And Sara knew, then, that she wasn't getting away with her earlier words.

And that was OK. She didn't think she wanted to.

"So," he said quietly, carefully. "You care about me?"

Sara considered. "Well," she retorted, meeting his eyes. "In a way. After all. A you're-a-jerk-but-I-kinda-like-you-anyway way."

That got an actual chuckle. Leonard studied her, then straightened out of his slouch a little, putting them on a level. "Hmmm," he drawled. "Guess I'll have to take that." He lowered his eyes a little, looking at her through his lashes. "But you know what else I am."

It wasn't a question. Sara could feel a smile tugging at her lips. "What?"

Moving slowly, Leonard edged a little closer, as if giving her a chance to pull away. Which she didn't. They were face to face, now, noses nearly bumping, both smirking. And that was OK, that was how it should be, Sara decided.

"I'm a hell of a thief," he whispered. And kissed her.

Sara kissed him back, pouring relief and other, messier feelings into it, reaching out to grab the collar of his jacket and pull him a little closer. Leonard reached up to put a hand gently along her jaw, and they might have continued a good bit longer if Gideon hadn't interrupted them.

"Miss Lance, Mr. Snart," the AI said almost apologetically. "Captain Hunter has requested your presence on the bridge."

Sara broke the kiss reluctantly, hearing Leonard sigh again. "Of course he has," he muttered, shaking his head, then regarded Sara from still-darkened eyes. "Shall we, Assassin?"

She smiled back at him, sliding off the bed. "Only if we can continue this discussion later."

"Damned right we can."

"Then lead on, Crook."


End file.
